Breaking Records- The Void EP
by StormWolf10
Summary: Fifth in the Breaking Records series. Rose is on holiday with her family in America, leaving the Doctor and Jack alone for a month. However, when things go wrong, the Doctor and Jack are left trying to raise enough money to get to LA.
1. Track 1

**A/N: So, here it is, first chapter of The Void EP. Was going to post it tomorrow morning, but didn't want Arrows to kill me…And I'm so, so sorry.**

The Doctor sighed. He was bored. Ridiculously bored. Incredibly bored. Jack had gone out to meet their new potential manager Donna Noble, and Rose was still in America, leaving him all alone in the recording studio. He'd written nothing, and hadn't picked up his guitar except to play some silly little melody pieces that he'd scrapped immediately after completing. Still, he decided, only a week until Rose was back. A grin spread across the Doctor's face at that. One week. And she'd be back. He'd be ready; the Doctor had already decided that. He'd meet her at the airport with a bag of chips (because he knew Rose loved chips) and a big grin, and he'd politely ask how her trip went before he announced those three words to her. _I love you_. Because he did. There was no denying it, not anymore. He, Theta Sigma (formerly John Smith) loved Rose Marion Tyler. With all his heart. Honestly, completely, forever. And he should have told her a long time ago, weeks ago, _months ago. _But he hadn't. When he'd gotten home from the interview with Donna, he'd found a very irate Jack Harkness waiting for him in the front room. Apparently, Rose _didn't_ know. Apparently, he had to tell her. Well, according to Jack at least. And so the Doctor had spent the next three weeks trying to work out the perfect way to tell her. Suddenly, his mobile rang, and the Doctor jumped in shock. He'd been so lost in his own little world that it had made him jump. Recovering quickly, he reached for the phone, hoping it was Rose.

"Hello?" he asked, a grin still on his face.

"Theta? It's Pete."

The Doctor's smile slipped slightly at that.

"Oh, hi, Pete. What can I do for you?" the Doctor asked, hoping to keep his tone light, and hoping the other man didn't hear how disappointed he was that it wasn't Rose calling.

"There's, uh, been a bit of a problem over here in America." Pete admitted uncertainly.

"Oh?" the Doctor asked, brow furrowing "How so?"

And as Pete proceeded to carefully explain the situation, all the colour drained from the Doctor's face.

**~StormWolf10~ **

"I'm back." Jack announced as he stepped into the house "You were right about that Donna Noble. Wouldn't stop talking! Seemed quite nice though, and I think she'd be right for the job. Friendly, but she gets the work done, and believe me, you don't want to get on the wrong side of her!"

By now, Jack had made his way through to the kitchen, and was just flicking the kettle on when he realised the Doctor was sat at the kitchen table.

"Theta? What're you doing?" Jack asked, perplexed "And is that my laptop?"

"Mine broke." The Doctor answered, not looking up.

The Doctor had produced a pair of black glasses from somewhere, and Jack blinked at the sight of his friend wearing them. He hadn't worn the glasses for ages.

"Right." Jack replied slowly "And what are you doing with it?"

"Booking a flight to LA." The Doctor explained shortly. His gaze then flickered to Jack briefly "You coming?"

"Theta, Rose will be back in a week. There's no need to book flights." Jack replied.

"She won't be."

"What do you mean she won't be?" Jack asked, brow furrowing in confusion.

"Pete phoned. She won't be back in a week."

"What? They've decided to stay?" Jack asked in dismay, heart sinking.

"Sort of." The Doctor replied.

Jack blinked as he watched the Doctor stab furiously at the keyboard.

"Theta," Jack asked slowly, quietly "what's wrong?"

The Doctor looked up at Jack again and, for the first time, held his gaze. The Doctor's eyes were filled with pain, and Jack immediately knew there was something very, _very_ wrong.

"There was an accident." The Doctor explained carefully, voice cracking slightly. He took a deep, shuddering breath before starting again "There was an accident in America. Rose… Rose was in a car crash."

Jack swore under his breath, hurrying to sit on a chair beside the Doctor.

"And you're flying out there?" Jack asked.

The Doctor nodded; focus back on the laptop again.

"Can I come?"

Again, the Doctor nodded. Jack took a deep breath before asking his final question.

"Did Pete say how she is? I mean, what are her injuries?"

The Doctor looked at Jack for a moment or two, and Jack could tell he was trying to work out whether or not to tell him. After several painfully long moments, the Doctor finally replied.

"She's in a coma. Apparently she took a pretty nasty bump to the head."


	2. Track 2

**A/N: Bit of a fast-moving chapter here, but it's necessary to get all the information in. And things aren't going well…**

The Doctor sat, jiggling his leg impatiently. They had a seven hour flight ahead of them, and the Doctor had no idea how to pass the time. He took a little comfort in the fact that Jack was as nervous as him, but that wouldn't help the fact they were squashed up in economy class. There was barely any leg room, which wasn't good news for either of the six foot one inch men.

"Theta," Jack piped up suddenly, quietly as the safety presentation was still going on at the front "Rose _is_ going to be ok, right?"

"Well, Pete didn't say she wouldn't be." The Doctor replied quietly, although he didn't sound too certain.

Jack nodded, attempting a weak smile as he settled back in his seat.

**~StormWolf10~**

They were collected from the airport by a worryingly quiet Pete, who only spoke to inform them that Jackie was at the hospital with Rose and there had been no change in her condition since they'd first told the Doctor the news three days before. The Doctor stalked off into the hospital once they arrived; quietly annoyed when Pete had to hurry after him and tell him he was going the wrong way. They finally reached Rose's room- a private room on the Intensive Care Unit thanks to Pete's newfound millionaire status- and were greeted by a somewhat shaky, tired, red-eyed Jackie. As much as he wanted to see Rose, Jack hung back outside for a while to give the Doctor some time and, to his surprise, Pete stayed outside with him.

"How's Theta taking it?" Pete asked quietly as they watched the man through the window in the door.

The Doctor had almost immediately taken up a seat beside Rose's bed, slipping his hand into hers. Jackie was saying something to him; they could see her lips moving but couldn't hear her.

"Shaken." Jack admitted after a moment "I got home to find him on my laptop trying to book a flight over. Didn't tell me why, only that Rose wouldn't be home in a week. Thought you'd all decided to buy a house over here, or something. And then the Doctor said about the accident…"

Jack trailed off, taking a deep breath, and Pete patted his shoulder reassuringly.

"And how are you taking it?" Pete questioned.

Jack shrugged, letting out a shaky laugh.

"Not as bad as Theta. He… I only found out last night that he'd been sleeping in Rose's bedroom. Went to wake him up so we could get ready and leave for the airport, and he wasn't in his room. I assumed he was already up, but it turned out he'd slept in Rose's room instead. Wouldn't say much about it, but apparently he's been in there every night since you called about the accident."

"He really cares for her." Pete stated with a small smile, glancing through the window at the Doctor again.

Jack nodded in agreement.

"He loves her." Jack agreed "He doesn't know that I know, but he was planning on telling her when she got back from America. He was gonna meet her at the airport with chips."

Pete smiled sadly at the other man. He'd really believed he'd been making headway with Rose during the holiday- she'd slowly but surely been accepting the man as a father-figure. And yet now, with the accident, he had no idea how much it had set it back by.

"It's my fault." Pete announced to Jack quietly, causing the other man to blink in confusion.

"I'm sorry?" Jack asked, perplexed.

"It's my fault Rose is in here." Pete replied with a sigh, leaning against the wall.

He was, as ever, dressed in a suit and tie, his slightly thinning hair combed and immaculate.

"Rose took a taxi, said she wanted to go to a shopping mall we'd passed the previous day. She wanted to get gifts for you and Theta. I offered to take her, but Rose said she didn't mind taking a taxi. I should have stopped her, I should have insisted on dropping her off…"

"You weren't to know, Pete. No one could have known." Jack pointed out carefully.

Pete snorted, looking away, and for a split second, Jack found it truly hard to believe that the man in front of him wasn't Rose's biological father.

"Some father I'm going to be." Pete muttered "Couldn't even keep her safe on holiday."

**~StormWolf10~**

After a while, Pete headed off to get some coffee for everyone and Jack joined the Doctor and Jackie at Rose's bedside. The Doctor had been rambling away to Rose, talking constantly, and Jack knew it was because he was getting desperate. The more the Doctor talked, the more Jack knew he was scared. Pete soon returned with coffee from everyone, and they sat in silence for almost an hour before the silence was broken.

"Jack was telling me you've hired a manager, Theta." Pete announced suddenly, adopting a cheery tone.

The Doctor blinked and looked at Jack.

"You _hired her_?" the Doctor asked, perplexed "We were going to wait and ask Rose!"

"No offence, Theta, but if we waited to ask Rose, Donna would be waiting quite a few weeks." Jack replied steadily.

The Doctor blinked, and turned back to Rose, his thumb smoothing over the back of her hand.

"Well," Jackie piped up with a forced reassuring smile "that's good, isn't it? Means you don't have to sort through all the paperwork and stuff by yourselves."

The Doctor grunted noncommittally, not looking up from Rose.

**~StormWolf10~**

Jack and the Doctor remained in America for almost a week, but soon found that their money was running out and they had to head home. Their newly-appointed manager Donna Noble had been informed of Rose's accident and had even sent flowers to Pete's and Jackie's hotel room and given them her number in case they needed anything. The woman even picked the Doctor and Jack up from the airport when they returned to England. The conversation on the way back to Guildford, however, wasn't what they were expecting.

"I've been contacted," Donna announced as they drove along the motorway "about a possibility of a tour."

"No." the Doctor responded immediately, staring out the car window "Not without Rose."

"It'll only be a small one." Donna continued, ignoring the Doctor and instead directing her conversation at Jack, who was crammed in the back of her Honda "London, Manchester, Liverpool."

"Aren't you listening?" the Doctor asked, turning to look at Donna "In case you hadn't noticed, my vocalist is in a coma in LA."

"Yes, but you've done songs without Rose." Donna answered simply "And, let's face it, if you want to go back over and see Rose again, you'll need money. Money, which is what people will give us for this tour."

"She has a point, Theta." Jack chipped in warily "And it doesn't have to be a massive tour. Just enough to get us back to America to see Rose."

Jack noticed that the Doctor was beginning to look vaguely interested in the prospect of a tour, most probably because he'd be able to fly back out to be with Rose once they got the money.

"You'll have to do another album, of course." Donna continued suddenly "Or an EP. Doesn't matter. You just need more songs. You could probably do some of the ones from the more recent album, but most of them can't be done without Rose."

"And once the tour's done, I can go back and see Rose?" the Doctor asked quietly.

Donna nodded, eyes still on the road.

"Yeah." She assured him, features softening slightly as she glanced across and saw how _vulnerable_ the Doctor looked "I promise."

The Doctor nodded, sniffing slightly and returning to staring out the window.

"I'll think about it." He replied calmly.


	3. Track 3

**A/N: Well, things aren't improving for them…**

"Is this it?" Donna asked, slightly confused.

The Doctor nodded, hands in his pockets.

"And you reckon these are the only songs you can do without Rose?" Donna questioned.

"No." the Doctor replied calmly "I _know_ these are the only songs I can do without Rose."

Donna blinked, and stared back down at the list again. The Doctor's list only had seven songs on it, four of which had been from the Brown Suit EP.

"Doctor, are you sure you can't do any from the Parallel album?" Donna asked with a sigh.

The Doctor shook his head adamantly.

"I'm not touching any of them. They're Rose's songs. I wrote them for her, not me."

"Well, you'll have to write some more songs, then." Donna told him uncertainly "Because I can tell you now, seven songs won't make a tour."

**~StormWolf10~**

After that, Donna and Jack rarely saw the Doctor. He was either up in the recording studio, desperately trying to produce a new CD, or in Rose's room. The evenings were spent with him calling Pete and Jackie, who- despite the time difference- were more than happy to update him on Rose's condition each evening. Only problem was, for the past few weeks, there had been nothing _to_ update the Doctor on. Rose was stable, but not improving, and not coming out of the coma. Donna soon discovered that Jack was only just holding up too, and decided that the sooner they got the tour sorted, the sooner she could get them on a plane back to America to see Rose. She organised the tour herself, making sure to keep the tour small but still earning them enough money that they could easily go back to America for a month or two to be with Rose while she healed.

"There's only six venues," Donna explained to Jack one morning, weeks after she'd originally told them about the tour "London, Manchester, Newcastle, Liverpool, Birmingham and Cardiff. We'll travel overnight to each place by tour bus and the tour will take about ten days to complete, with a few days of rest in between."

"Look, Donna, this all sounds great, but Theta and I can't afford to hire a tour bus! We only just got enough money to employ you as manager!" Jack pointed out, incredulous.

He was leant against the kitchen worktop, watching Donna as she sat at the table sipping tea. They always had the business meetings in their kitchen at their house, as it was convenient, cost them nothing, and the Doctor wouldn't leave the house.

"It's alright," Donna assured him calmly "I'm calling in a few favours. My Mother recommended a newly-trained doctor who would be willing to tour with us, my partner Lee has already offered to drive the tour bus I've managed to hire, and a young man my Granddad knows through family has said he'll come along and help load and unload everything. Of course, we'll have to help him with the loading up."

At Jack's sceptical expression, Donna raised an eyebrow.

"I'm stronger than I look, sunshine." Donna told him coolly, causing Jack to blink.

"Right. Yes, ok. Sounds good." Jack nodded, still slightly surprised that Donna had managed to organise everything.

"Come on, then." Donna announced, getting to her feet "Let's go tell that love-struck teenager you call a friend about this tour."

**~StormWolf10~**

The next few weeks leading up to the tour were something of a whirlwind for the Doctor. There were various interviews and publicity photos to do, and they had to have a photo shoot with Mickey, who was making their tour posters. It was the interviews he struggled with most, though, and Jack and Donna found that they had to do most of the talking.

"And what of Miss Tyler?" one journalist asked during an interview "Rumour has it she's left for America."

"She is in America at the moment, yes." Donna admitted calmly, noting how Jack took a deep breath and the Doctor looked away at the mention of Rose "She went over for a holiday with her Mother and step-Father, and we are sad to tell you she was involved in a car accident while she was over there. She's currently undergoing treatment at a hospital in America."

"And when will Miss Tyler be back, if at all?" the journalist questioned, eyebrow raised.

"She'll be back." The Doctor announced suddenly, tone hard.

"Then you are _not_ looking for a new vocalist?" the journalist asked, perplexed.

"No. No one's replacing Rose." The Doctor replied coolly.

"Miss Tyler is currently in a coma, but we're in constant contact with her parents, who are keeping us updated, and they've assured us that she is stable." Donna explained, sure to keep a calm exterior as she dealt with the journalist.

"We're hoping to fly back out and see her sometime after the tour is complete." Jack added with a small smile.

"So the tour won't feature any songs from your most recent album?"

"No." the Doctor admitted, taking a deep breath before continuing "I wrote those songs for Rose to sing. No one else."


	4. Track 4

**A/N: Final chapter for this story. I know it's short, but I have my reasons. Onto the next story in the series!**

Jack grimaced as he hefted his drum kit up into the tour bus. It was a rickety old thing, the only bus Donna could afford on their meagre budget. As it was, they were being driven by Donna's partner Lee- a kind man with a stutter, much to Jack's amusement. The poor man struggled to get a word in sideways with Donna nattering on. Also, to Jack's confusion, Donna had been with Lee for months now, but the man had explained to Jack that Donna still insisted on telling everyone about her former-fiancé Lance, who'd jilted her at the altar. The man who'd been roped in by Donna's kindly Grandfather didn't look particularly strong to Jack, and he'd been surprised at the man's soft Welsh accent. He'd introduced himself as Ianto Jones, and his Grandfather and Donna's Grandfather had fought in the war together. Ianto wore a suit, and Jack really doubted he was very good at lifting stuff, but he was willing to work for a small wage and seemed nice, so Jack didn't say anything. Finally, there was the newly-trained doctor they'd been promised. Jack had suggested just taking a first-aid box with them, but after the glare Donna had given him, had quickly dropped the idea. The young doctor was- to Jack's surprise- a dark-skinned woman only in her early twenties, and was called Martha Jones. Already, Jack had seen her trying to talk to the Doctor several times without success.

"Are we ready to get going?" Donna asked, suddenly appearing at Jack's side.

"Everything's loaded up, so I guess so." Jack replied with a nod.

**~StormWolf10~**

The first night of the tour, in London, could have gone better. The crowd had loved it, and the songs were brilliant, it was just the Doctor that was the problem. He was jumping about the stage with his guitar, grinning like a loon as he belted out the lyrics, but anyone who truly knew him could tell it was only an act. Donna had been around the man enough now that she knew it was all faked for the audience, as could Jack. Martha had stood at the side of the stage, watching the Doctor with a huge grin on her face, while Ianto had sat near the exit door, nose in a book. Everyone had pulled their own weight and helped load up the equipment at the end of the show, and Jack and the Doctor had even dutifully gone out back to the stage door and signed autographs and posed for photographs. But once they were back on the tour bus, the Doctor didn't speak to anyone. He took up a seat at the back of the bus, legs crammed up on the seat as he gazed listlessly out the window, watching the rain stream down the windows.

"It looks like some cheesy scene from a love film." Donna muttered to Jack quietly.

Jack smiled sadly at that, nodding.

"Why's he like that, though?" Martha asked in confusion, keeping her voice low "He was fine on stage. And he's had loads of vocalists before Rose."

"Rose lived with us." Jack reminded the young medic calmly "Theta's never been closer to any other vocalist before. He loved- _loves_- her."

"And will she be alright?" Martha questioned.

Jack shrugged, sighing.

"We're not sure yet. She's stable but not improving."

**~StormWolf10~**

Everyone had eventually fallen asleep on the drive up to Manchester, leaving poor Lee on his own with only the radio for company. So, it was no wonder he swerved across a lane of traffic when the Doctor woke at about three am, screaming blue murder.

"What the hell's going on?" Donna demanded, rubbing her eyes as she attempted to look a little more alert.

"I missed the call!" the Doctor yelled, wide-eyed "I missed the call, last night; I didn't turn my phone back on!"

"Hold on, hold on, _what call_?" Jack asked tiredly, getting to his feet and making his way through the tour bus to his friend.

"Pete!" the Doctor yelled in annoyance, clearly thinking the answer was obvious "He promised to phone about Rose!"

"Ok, calm down, I'll ring him now, ok?" Donna told him, making her way to the back of the bus, already dialling Pete's number.

Within moments, Pete had answered the phone, and upon seeing that Donna was talking to him, the Doctor visibly relaxed.

"Yeah, sorry, Pete, Theta forgot to switch his phone back on." Donna explained "Is it alright if he speaks with you?"

There was a pause, and then Donna was holding the phone out to the Doctor. He grabbed it quickly, wide-eyed as he pressed the phone to his ear.

"Pete! How is she? Is she alright? Any change?" the Doctor demanded hysterically down the phone.

There was another pause, evidently as Pete answered the Doctor's questions, and Jack's heart sank as the Doctor's shoulders slumped; it evidently wasn't good news.

"Ok." The Doctor replied quietly "Ok, well, thanks, Pete. Yeah. I'll phone again this evening. Bye."

And with that, the Doctor hung up.

"Well?" Jack prompted.

"No change." The Doctor answered, slumping back down in his seat.

**~StormWolf10~**

Over the next ten days, the group made their way around the country, performing what was quite possibly the smallest tour in history. Each performance was the same as the first, with the Doctor doing his utmost best to appear the same as normal, but every night on the tour bus, he'd curl up alone at the back of the bus, calling Pete for an update on Rose before finally drifting into a fitful sleep. By the time they reached the final venue in Cardiff, Donna was having to put a tonne of makeup on him just so no one would see how tired he truly was. Eventually, the tour was done, however, and the Doctor and Jack were back in their Guildford home, anxiously awaiting a phone call from Donna to tell them how much the tour had earned them. The Doctor had written some new tracks too, and was producing an EP in the hope that it would give them the final financial boost they needed to get back to LA.

"Well?" Jack questioned when the Doctor got off the phone with Donna.

The Doctor didn't reply, merely slumped down on a chair at the kitchen table.

"Not good, I take it?" Jack asked nervously, heart sinking.

"We've got nowhere near enough money to go back over for a month. We've got enough for a week or two, and that's if we stay in a really cheap hotel. But I'm not willing to go over there if it means leaving Rose again so soon." The Doctor replied with a sigh.

Jack nodded, understanding.

"What do we do, then?" Jack asked quietly.

"I don't know." The Doctor admitted quietly.

He then stood up and left the room, heading straight for Rose's room. Jack didn't see him again for four days.


End file.
